Assessment of gold and silver in assorted mobile phone printed circuit boards (PCBs): Original article
Abstract
Demand for gold and silver has been escalating with increasing usage of electronic equipment globally. Around 267.3 MT of gold and 7275 MT of silver are being consumed annually for manufacturing mobile phones, laptops and other electronic equipment. However, only 15% is recuperated from these equipment; the remainder lies in the storage yards or landfills. The waste comprise glass, plastics, wires, batteries, PCBs, metal casing, etc. The PCB is composed of precious metals, which creates immense purpose for recycling and recovery. This paper characterises and assesses the recoverable metallic fraction of gold and silver from PCBs of mobile phones. The methodology is based on dismantling of the mobile handset and subjecting the PCBs to roasting and acid digestion. The digested samples were analysed by atomic absorption spectroscopy and the content of gold and silver in the PCBs was to be found in the range of 0.009-0.017% and 0.25-0.79% by weight respectively.
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Estimates of total volumes of waste electrical and electronic equipment range from 20-70 million tons per year.
“Estimates of total volumes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) range from 20-70 million tons per year [181,182].”
From Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review (2019) · cites this paper as [182]
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Hertwich, E. G., Ali, S., Ciacci, L., Fishman, T., Heeren, N., Masanet, E., Asghari, F. N., Olivetti, E., Pauliuk, S., Tu, Q., et al. (2019) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab0fe3 · Cited by 477 · see citing works
- Authors
- Vats, M. C., & Singh, S. K.
- Affiliations
- Delhi Technological University (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Vats, M.C.
- ORCID
- Singh, S.K.
- Venue
- Waste Management
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-11
- Volume
- 45
- Pages
- 280-288
- ISSN
- 0956-053X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1922079843
- Cited by
- 114
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 16.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Waste Management (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Defence Research and Development Organisation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Recycling and Waste Management Techniques
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Extraction and Separation Processes
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Recycling and utilization of industrial and municipal waste in materials production
- Keywords
- gold recovery, silver recovery, printed circuit boards, mobile devices, precious metals, e-waste recycling, acid digestion, roasting
- MeSH terms
- Gold, Silver, Waste Management, Cell Phone, Recycling, Electronic Waste
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